Rotorua Trust lends a helping hand to SPCA

November 30, 2015

Rotorua Trust lends a helping hand to SPCA

The Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust is again digging deep into its pockets to help out a local charity – this time in the form of the Rotorua SPCA and helping to fund a de-sexing programme through the animal shelter.

As part of their mission to ensure the numbers of unowned or uncared for animals are minimised, every cat and dog rehomed through the SPCA is de-sexed as part of its adoption process – but this comes with a cost.

Rotorua SPCA manager Eve Johnson says ensuring every cat or dog is de-sexed before leaving their premises means they can control the unwanted breeding of pets, which often results in kittens and puppies being dropped off at the SPCA at a later date or worse, dumped on the side of a road in a remote location.

In a bid to help, the Rotorua Energy Charitable Trust has given the local SPCA $20,000 to help pay for the de-sexing of animals, as well as towards a subsidy system for people who hold a community services card, enabling them to be responsible pet owners without stressing about the budget.

Over the past five years, the Rotorua SPCA has been focusing on de-sexing every pet that leaves the organisation. With the funding, they can continue their work and offer more options to the wider community.

"We are so grateful to the Rotorua Trust for the contribution they make to us and the work we do. It's a community-wide contribution that makes a huge difference. As a publicly funded organisation, we couldn't do what we do without their help."

"We run a community services card scheme where card holders are able to have their animals de-sexed at a subsidised rate through the Rotorua Trust or the Rotorua District Council, and we plan to use some of the funding for that," said Johnson.

The funding has also allowed them to offer a voucher scheme for veterinary services.

"Our main role at the SPCA is protecting animal welfare, so the money will also go towards vouchers that we can give out when we go into homes where we see animals are being mistreated, to get them the help they need."

When you buy a kitten from the SPCA, it costs $115 to have it de-sexed. Otherwise it can cost pet owners up to $200 for a cat and $500 for a dog.